Desperate Housewives: Lesley Ann Warren

AGE: Turns 59 on Aug. 16
HOMETOWN: New York City
LATEST GIG: Playing red-hot momma to Teri Hatcher's Susan Mayer

•Golden Girl:
Add one more thank-you to a series that has turned into ABC's gift to more mature actresses. Housewives' success "is a powerful message to Hollywood," says Warren, whose four-decade career has seen ups (Oscar nomination for 1982's Victor/Victoria) and downs: "I thought I was washed up at 24!" Says Andrea Bowen, 15, who plays granddaughter Julie: "She's an inspiration."

•Desperate? Not yet.
Of course, Warren, mother of a 36-year-old son with her first husband, producer Jon Peters, looks terrific. "I don't drink coffee, I don't eat chocolate, I exercise." Oh, and she uses a machine that stimulates face muscles electrically—but she hasn't gone under the knife. "I would like to find a way to embrace each stage of my life and feel beautiful. But I could call you tomorrow and say I've changed my mind."

•In her future:
She and second husband Ron Taft, a former studio exec, are renovating their Sherman Oaks, Calif., home, and she plans to keep acting. "If there comes a point where you're not playing the sexy mother, so what?"